Military Power of the Roman Army

Military Power of the romish ArmyOCdt A. Lopez-EspinosaOne of the roughly iconic images of the roman print Empire is that of the Roman soldier a visual representation of the Empires part and its willingness to exercise it. Curiously, the popular image of the Roman soldier is non completely accurate, in that the idealized image that most hold is singular and constant in nature, yet the Roman armament was anything but, undergoing many changes in equipment and establishment throughout the reign of ancient Rome. In fact, few things remained the same as the years went on save for the Roman armys customs duty of theatre and order, the adoption of natural tactic and organizational structures was a defining feature of the Roman military, and here lies the source of the Roman armys superiority.1 The Roman armys power came from its adaptability, which allowed it to react to new challenges presented by opponents, and from its tradition of strict area, which resulted in better trai ned forces with increased tactical and strategic capabilities. The effects of these factors can be seen in the many campaigns in which Romes forces participated, with the Romans adapting their equipment, tactics, and formations, and adopting those of its enemies, along with their extensive plain being important contributors to their victor.2In Considerations on the Ca examples of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline, Montesquieu states that, the circumstance which contributed most to render the Romans masters of the world was, that having contended successively against all nations, they invariably renounced their confess usages as soon as they found better (20), thus effectively identifying one of the Roman armys primary sources of power.3Unlike many of the armies of the time, the Romans had no qualms about ever-changing their own practices in order to more effectively armed combat an foe, or to even adopt those of other nations that they deemed to be effective. This made it so that the Roman army became not just more experienced with every encounter, but better in any number of practical ways, with changes to their own methods and adoption of enemy tactics and equipment. Ultimately, the Romans military might was so great because it was composed of the strengths of every nation they had defeated. This virtue of adaptability was seen in some of its earliest examples with Romulus adopting the Sabines buckler, which was larger and therefore provided more breastplate than the Argive buckler that he previously used.4 While to the modern reader this may seem far from a revolutionary idea, it was at the time, and as such conceded an exceptional value to the Romans. As remarked by Montesquieu and translated in A Treatise on the Science of War and Fortification, It is remarkable, that the nations vanquished by the Romans never inquired into the causes of their repeated defeats but persevered in the use of their weapons and institutions to the last mom ent of their political existence (OConnor, 71).5 Clearly, this doctrine of assimilation and adaptation was fairly unique for its time, and thereby allowed the Roman Legions to continuously evolve, with new tactics, equipment, and training.An even great testament to the adaptability of the Romans was that they did not only assimilate or adapt to the innovations of the armies after having defeated them, but would do so throughout a campaign as well, learning from every defeat in order to ultimately take mastery back. A good example of this was upon encountering the elephants of Pyrrhus, where the unfamiliar animals routed the Roman cavalry, their horses, before they got in force(p) the animals, were terrified and ran away with their riders (Plutarch, XVII.3), but the Romans allowed this to happen only once.6 In response, they first supplied the weakness of their cavalry by taking away the bridles from the horses, and afterwards by flux velites with their cavalry proper (Montesqui eu, 55).7The Romans strategy of adaptation and adoption showed clear results on the battlefield time and time again. In this way, many a campaign that seemed mixed-up at first was ultimately reclaimed by them, careful to ascertain in what respects their enemy might possess some superiority all over them they immediately took action accordingly (Montesquieu, 54), and thereby turn the tides in their favour once more.8 In short, a great factor in the Roman armys success was its doctrine of constant evolution if someone was doing something better, do what they are doing. In this way, the Roman army continuously evolved into a force that had the best traits of all powers in the area as summarized by Josephus If any nation enjoyed any particular advantage they at once availed themselves of the same. They did not neglect to provide themselves with Numidian horses, Cretan archers, Balearic slingmen, and Rhodian ships. In fine, no nation ever prepared for war with so much prudence, or car ried it on with so much audacity (Montesquieu, 56).9The Romans exercised another great advantage over their contemporaries discipline. Many of the armies of their time being composed of non-professional soldiers, and those that did have standing armies had them composed of barbarians and undisciplined troops. As such, it would often come about that the Romans claimed mastery despite being grossly outnumbered, Roman troops always being the better disciplined, it was likely, even in the most unfortunate combats, that they would rally in part, or that the enemy would somewhere be thrown into disorder and although overborne in the beginning , they finally wrested victory from their hands (Montesquieu, 54).10This great discipline was of the utmost importance to the Roman armys success, and so it was instilled from the moment that a man would enlist. They began training at military schools, increasing physical strength, dexterity, and weapons handling, with the most famous of these being the Campus Martius in ancient Rome.11 All of this contributed to the Roman soldier becoming the best version of himself, which in turn resulted in a greater esprit de corps and pride, and ultimately a greater willingness to fight. This transferred directly to the battlefield, where the Roman forces would rarely break formation despite being presented with an overwhelming enemy, and whose formations were therefore powerful and resilient enough to overcome these same enemies. The discipline that Roman soldiers exhibited came from twain factors, one being the risk of punishment, and the other being Roman pride, with each being effective in their own right.The pride that Romans felt in their turn out in the military was an effective component in maintaining order amongst the troops by being preventative a Roman soldier did not indirect request to forsake his duty because of his pride. This could be seen in the rarity of Roman desertions, which resulted from the fact that soldiers dra wn from the bosom of a people so proud, so haughty, so confident of dominating other peoples, could little think so far undervaluing themselves as to cease to be Romans (Montesquieu, 53).12 This pride went beyond retention and increased morale and combat effectiveness, as this pride allowed a Roman soldier to believe in himself and his brothers in arms all the more.13The other source of Roman military discipline stemmed from the threat of punishment for those who were lacking. This began from the earliest days of a soldiers career when performance was unsatisfactory they were punished accordingly, and so it became that corporal punishment to enforce discipline was part of a soldiers way of life (Saller, 136).14 Despite corporal punishment becoming the norm for these soldiers, there existed far more severe punishments that served as natural deterrents for the most extreme cases of a soldiers misconduct, the most famous of these being the decimation of a unit. As described by Polybi usIf the same thing ever happens to large bodies, and if entire maniples desert their posts when exceedingly hard pressed, the officers refrain from inflicting the bastinado or the death penalty on all, but find a solution of the difficulty which is some(prenominal) salutary and terror-striking. The tribune assembles the legion, and brings up those guilty of leaving the ranks, reproaches them sharply, and finally chooses by lots sometimes five, sometimes eight, sometimes twenty of the offenders, so adjusting the number thus elect that they form as near as possible the tenth part of those guilty of cowardice. Those on whom the lot falls are bastinadoed mercilessly in the expressive style above described the rest receive rations of barley instead of wheat and are ordered to encamp outside the camp on an unprotected spot. As therefore the danger and dread of drawing the fatal lot affects all equally, as it is uncertain on whom it will fall and as the public discredit of receiving ba rley rations falls on all alike, this practice is that best calculated to both inspire fear and to correct the mischief. (Polybius, 38)15This punishment is exemplary of the array of consequences that could chance a soldier who lacked discipline if ones pride was not motivation enough, then these would be.Clearly, both methods of encouraging discipline amongst Roman troops were effective, and in turn this discipline was a powerful asset of the Roman army. The Roman armys unmatched discipline on the battlefield proved itself to be a source of strength and a great advantage time and time again. Especially against barbaric forces, even when outnumbered the Romans would hold, and the undisciplined enemy forces would be routed despite their numerical advantage, and they would thereby finally wrest victory from their hands (Montesquieu, 54).16The Roman Empires military might was what allowed it to expand and maintain its power and influence, and so the Empire was only as strong as its arm y. The Roman armys power came from their willingness to adapt and their strict doctrine of discipline, and this is further apparent in how the armies of subsequent eras were eager to adopt these same ideals, and when doing so became far more successful.ReferencesGoldsworthy, Adrian. 2003. The Complete Roman Army. London Thames and Hudson Ltd.Montesquieu, and Jehu Baker. 1882. Montesquieus Considerations on the Causes of the Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans. New York D. Appleton and Company.OConnor, John M. 1817. A Treatise on the Science of War and Fortification. New York J. Seymour.Plutarch. n.d. feel of Pyrrhus.Polybius. n.d. Book 6.Saller, Richard P. 1997. Patriarchy, Property and demolition in the Roman Family. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.1 Adrian Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army (London Thames and Hudson Ltd., 2003).2 Montesquieu and Jehu Baker, Montesquieus Considerations on the Causes of the Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans (New York D. Appleton and Com pany, 1882), 54.3 Ibid, 20.4 Ibid, 20.5 John OConnor, A Treatise on the Science of War and Fortification (New York J. Seymour, 1817), 71.6 Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus (n.d.), XVII.3.7 Montesquieu and Jehu Baker, Montesquieus Considerations on the Causes of the Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans (New York D. Appleton and Company, 1882), 55.8 Ibid, 54.9 Ibid, 56.10 Ibid, 54.11 Ibid, 49-51.12 Ibid, 53.13 Ibid, 53-54.14 Richard P. Saller, Patriarchy, Property and Death in the Roman Family (Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 1997), 136.15 Polybius, Book VI (n.d.), 38.16 Montesquieu and Jehu Baker, Montesquieus Considerations on the Causes of the Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans (New York D. Appleton and Company, 1882), 54.